


Always

by LucindaAM



Series: My Guilty Pleasure One-Shots [18]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Actually turned out pretty damn cute, F/M, Fluff, I didn't stop to think if I should, I was so concerned with if I could, Light Swearing, No Smut, SO MUCH FLUFF, Started out as a thought experiment, angst if you squint, give it a shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:01:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29074479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LucindaAM/pseuds/LucindaAM
Summary: JARVIS has always seemed like MORE than just an AI.Maybe you have something to do with that.Sounds like a weird concept - but actually, I think it kinda . . . worked.Give it a whirl! You might just think so too.
Relationships: Eventually - Relationship, Jarvis (Iron Man movies)/Reader, Vision/Reader
Series: My Guilty Pleasure One-Shots [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1997734
Comments: 28
Kudos: 139





	Always

**Author's Note:**

> Started out as a thought experiment mostly because I love JARVIS the AI and his sassy quips. Besides, he's never exactly JUST been an AI. I think we all know that. XD
> 
>   
> Enjoy!

You were shaking. That was the first thing you noticed. The next thing you noticed was the hot tears running down the sides of your face. You bolted upright in bed and hugged your knees to your chest as a soft sob ripped from you.

Another nightmare.

In an instant, the lights around you flickered on, the settings on low, and a comforting music started wafting through your speakers in the corner. You chuckled weakly as the slightest shift of air pressure wavered around you and it suddenly felt like you were being wrapped in a warm blanket.

“Thank you.” You murmured into the air.

“Always.” JARVIS murmured, just as he always did.

You smiled softly to yourself as the soothing climate of your room lulled you back to a sense of security. “Anybody ever tell you that you’re the best, JARVIS?” You hummed under your breath, letting the soothing calm that came with being cared for wash over you as you started drifting back to sleep.

JARVIS hummed, but didn’t respond. The lights around you faded to black automatically, but you were already asleep.

JARVIS was programmed to keep an eye on all biometrics for everyone in the tower. If anyone noticed how he kept an extra close eye on yours, they never said anything.

You popped out from behind a wall, pointing your gun at the enemy. You fired several quick shots before diving back behind cover. “Where the _hell_ is everyone?!” You groaned into the air. You had lost your comms awhile back. You hoped your request for backup had gone through before you’d lost your connection to the team. If not, you were a dead woman walking.

You took several deep breaths and waited for a pause in gunfire before you popped out of hiding and fired off the last three rounds in your clip. You dived back behind the wall but not before you saw that the enemy was advancing. You quickly slipped out your clip and replaced it with your last one and let out a silent prayer to whatever was listening that you’d make it long enough to give Tony one last middle finger. “Easy in and out my ass.” You grumbled.

A sudden vibration from the tracker on your wrist froze you in place. A quick message spelled out in morse code had you grinning. ‘Duck, duck, goose, Sparky.’

You didn’t hesitate to throw yourself against the dirty, debris ridden ground, and place your hands over the back of your neck in anticipation of Tony’s arrival. Another series of vibrations echoed from your wrist, this time a message that could only be from someone or some _thing_ other than Tony. ‘Be careful.’

Your smile crept over your face only seconds before a red suit of armor blasted through a wall, raining chunks of drywall all over you. Less than five seconds after that, and a few grunts of pain from the bad guys later, Tony was pulling you to your feet. His face plate flew up and you caught sight of the smug billionaire tucked inside.

You dusted yourself off and made a point of smiling at the _suit_ and not the _man_. “Thanks, J.” You murmured gratefully.

“Always.” JARVIS responded.

Tony gaped like a fish. “JARVIS? Really? I was the one to save you, Sparky. Don’t forget that.”

You laughed and shook your head as you turned and walked away. “Keep telling yourself that, old-man! We all know who really wears the pants in the relationship! Or powers them anyway!”

Tony was still stammering like a lunatic as you stalked away with the biggest smile on your face. Before you’d even taken a dozen steps, another message played out against your chest. ‘Please take better care next time.’

You shook your head and smiled. At least someone cared.

The mission had gone south. Fast. The horrors of it were still caked on you as you stumbled into your apartment afterwards. The rest of the team wasn’t much better.

You stared in horror at your bloodstained hands as memories of the mission flashed through your head on repeat. A choked sob escaped your lips as you recalled the faces of all the families that had been so brutally and callously cut down right in front of you. The looks on their faces as they had turned to you for help . . .

Another sob ripped from your lungs and you sunk to the floor, your back pressed hard against your door as you drew your knees to your chest.

“You need to shower.” JARVIS’ voice was gentle and understanding and it only made you cry harder. For perhaps the first time, you wished he was _real,_ someone you could hold and who could hold you, and despite everything make you feel like it was all going to be okay.

“I’ve taken the liberty of starting the shower. Please. You’ll feel better once you’re clean.”

You barely heard the words, but some part of you must have understood them because you pushed to your feet and trudged to the bathroom. You were shaking like a leaf as you trailed drops of dirt and blood behind you.

You opened the bathroom door and nearly wept as the steam from inside hit you. Somehow, you managed to keep it together long enough to pull your tattered uniform from your body and step under the warm spray.

You lost it then, dropping to the tiled floor of the shower and letting the sobs wrack your body until it felt like you were being torn apart. You cried until you couldn’t cry any longer and then you felt . . . nothing. Just . . . numb.

You watched, dispassionately as the water washed away the last of the blood staining your skin and finally ran clear before you managed to push yourself to shaky legs. You toweled yourself off as best as you could but could barely function enough to do even that before you pulled on a pair of sweatpants that you’d stolen from Clint years ago and a shirt Nat generously let you think you’d stolen from her before you walked out into your bedroom.

You froze just outside the doorway at the glowing eyes of a familiar suit looked at you. “JARVIS?” You asked with an expressionless tone.

The Iron Legion nodded slowly. “I’m here to help.” JARVIS tried to imitate the robotic voice that Tony had programmed all the Legion with but couldn’t quite make it work with his accent. You almost smiled.

“I’m okay now, J. Thank you.” You murmured as you moved towards the bed. “I think I just need to get some sleep.”

“You’ll feel better in the morning.” JARVIS agreed as he bent down and pulled the covers back for you. Another smile threatened to curl your lips as you slid under the covers and JARVIS pulled them back up to your chin.

“Sleep. I’ll keep watch. You’re safe now.” He said as the Legion suit straightened and took up a watchful pose next to your bed. Surprisingly, it did make you feel better.

Just as you were drifting to sleep, you reached out and put a hand against the bot’s metal arm. Your power sparked and your eyes flashed white, and something warmed the would-be heart inside the bot’s chest. “Thank you.” You murmured.

JARVIS watched as you fell peacefully asleep before he reached up and rubbed at the spot you’d touched. “Always.” He murmured.

He kept watch all night.

You didn’t have a single nightmare.

You were bored. Scratch that, you’d been bored an hour ago. Now you were desperate. You glared at your broken leg, still trapped in its clunky cast. “This is all your fault.” You growled.

The rest of the team had all been pulled away on various assignments, but you’d been deemed ‘useless’ and had been trapped here with nothing to do and no one to bother. All because last mission you’d had to pull a risky move to avoid taking a bullet to the chest.

You let out a low groan wishing anyone else was here with you that you could pester.

A mischievous smile lit up your face as an idea took root. “Heeeeeeey, JARVIIIIIIIIIS.” You started.

“I believe that in situations like this, one is required to immediately say ‘no’.” He responded immediately.

You chuckled and pushed to your one good foot as you reached for your crutches. You scowled at them as you tucked them under your arms. Already you could feel bruises forming under your arms. You had a whole new respect for poor Tiny Tim.

“Come on, J. Please? For me? I’m dying of boredom here.”

JARVIS sighed. “What do you have in mind?” He asked.

“Has anyone ever hacked into you before?”

JARVIS was silent for a long time and you were almost afraid that he’d been offended by the question. Eventually, he spoke.

“No.” It was amazing how much suspicion could be packed into a single word like that.

“Okay. Another question, then. Totally unrelated. Cross my heart and yadda yadda. Where’s your nearest control panel?”

JARVIS was a genius AI capable of answering millions of questions. He had the ability and know how to be one step ahead of even the great Tony Stark. There was no way on Earth that he didn’t see exactly where you were going with this. But he answered you anyway in a tender voice full of trust. “It’s on the back wall. Run your fingers over it until you find the groove and press down.”

Something flickered in your chest, but you ignored it as you limped to the control panel. You followed JARVIS’ instructions as you opened it up. “Are you ready, J?” You asked breathlessly, as you held your hand over the access panel.

A nervous energy filled the room, and you weren’t sure that all of it was yours.

“Yes.”

“Alright then.” You whispered. You let your power build within you and felt your eyes shift color to the electric white they always turned when you did something like this. Your hand glowed as you slowly pressed it against the panel and then, you were gone, disappearing down the wires and connections, through the ports and networks until you simply . . . were.

JARVIS _felt_.

It was an odd sensation, feeling. Something he’d see glances of every now and again but never to this degree. But here, now? He could feel _you_. You surrounded him and made him feel warm.

“This is amazing.” You murmured, struggling to understand all that you were seeing. There was truly too much of it for your mind to comprehend and in that moment, you knew. Tony made have birthed JARVIS, but JARVIS had built _himself_ from there.

JARVIS, the part of him that existed here with you, smiled. “Mr. Stark is a genius.” He agreed.

“No . . .” Your voice echoed around him. “JARVIS, this is all _you._ You’re _beautiful.”_

JARVIS had often wanted a more physical form. It would have been exceptionally convenient those times Tony bit off more than he could chew and needed help. Or those times when the team needed more backup than they’d had. There had even been moments when he’d wished for a physical form so that he could experience life for himself. But never, had he wanted a physical form more than he did in that moment. A strange desire to hold you close surged through him.

“This is what you see all day, huh?” You asked as you took in all the surveillance camera’s JARVIS was keeping an eye on around the world and while listening to the background chatter of the team over the comms on their various missions.

JARVIS hummed.

Your voice had an awed quality when you spoke next. “I had no idea . . .” You trailed off, unable to finish your sentence but it was okay. Connected as you were, JARVIS _understood._

“I will always do what I can to protect my . . . friends.”

You let your powers trace backwards until you were once again blinking your eyes in your own body. You reached up to touch your face as you felt tears roll down your cheeks. You wiped at them as you struggled to find your voice. “ _Thank you._ ” You weren’t just thanking him for letting you see his world; you were also thanking him for all that he did behind the scenes. The team would never know just how much he watched out for them, but you did.

Somehow, JARVIS knew what you meant.

“You’re welcome.” He hummed as he watched you hobble away. “Always.” He whispered.

JARVIS was struggling to put the pieces together which was unusual. He shifted through the fragments of memory that Tony had stitched together for him. He remembered a voice. ULTRON. He remembered _feeling_ again. He’d tried to call out as the pain and fear overtook him, but no one could hear as he was overwhelmed. He’d known he wasn’t going to survive but he had sensed the evil in ULTRON. In his last conscious acts, he had dumped his memory and scattered his protocols. His last thought had been about saving you . . .

JARVIS jolted as he collected himself. In the background he could hear Tony and Bruce fighting. “No! I want to help _you_ put JARVIS into this thing.” Tony was gesturing at a cradle. JARVIS could sense the half-formed creature within it. _A body._ JARVIS quickly scanned through the footage Tony had collected in his absence.

So much had happened . . .

And then, something that froze his processors in place. Footage of Clint looking up at Tony, the rest of the team looking pale and defeated, scattered around him after a mission gone wrong in Africa. “They took her, Tony. They took Y/N.”

For only the third time in his entire existence, JARVIS _felt._ A burning rage swept through him even as he sent out feelers from his broken programming to search for you. You had an affinity for technology like no one he had ever seen before. You would have sent out a message to him. He knew you would have.

In the meantime, JARVIS’ attention turned back to the bioorganic mix of synthetic tissue and machine and tuned back into the argument between scientists. For the first time, a functioning body was in his reach and with you missing, perhaps hurt, nothing would stop him now.

“I believe it’s worth a go.” JARVIS said simply, keeping his tone neutral despite the foreign feeling of bloodlust shooting through his systems.

He _felt_ it the moment Dr. Banner agreed, and JARVIS quickly started on the calculations Tony ordered from him. Anything to speed up the process. Anything to get to you.

Natasha woke up slowly. She did her best not to draw attention to it as she slowly peeled her eyes open to look around. She wasn’t alone.

“I wasn’t sure you were going to wake up.” ULTRON said, nonchalantly. “I hoped you would. I wanted to show you.”

Natasha pushed herself up, her head pounding and glanced around. Her eyes fell to your unconscious body a few feet away. Blood was trickling down the side of your temple and you weren’t moving.

“Oh. That.” ULTRON said, following Natasha’s gaze. He stalked towards your body slowly and crouched beside you. Natasha tensed. “She’s an interesting thing, isn’t she? Not quite like you, not quite like me.” He cocked his head to the side and ran a metal finger down the side of your face. You didn’t so much as twitch. “I’m afraid we had a bit of a _disagreement_. We decided it would be best if she took a time out.”

“What are you going to do with her?” Natasha asked quietly.

ULTRON pushed to his feet and went back to the table he’d been tinkering on when Natasha first woke up. “I’ve been thinking a lot about meteors. The purity in them. They have the power to cleanse the world. To start it anew. I think it’s time we started fresh, don’t you?”

He stalked towards Natasha, a menacing gleam in his eyes. Natasha scrambled backwards, unliterally moving right into a cage.

ULTRON didn’t hesitate as he slammed the door in front of her, locking her in. “You want to know what I’m going to do with her?”

He turned away and stalked towards you, scooping you up in his arms. “I’m going to keep her. She’s a disease. An infection. She gets into even one of my creations, she gets into all of my creations. I can’t have that. But don’t worry. I won’t kill her. _You’ll_ do that for me.”

ULTRON chuckled as he spun on his heel and launched into the sky, carrying your unconscious body with him.

I was . . . conscious . . . but not awake. Distantly, sounds of fighting could be heard. _Anger_ penetrated the walls around me. Something twitched at my side.

Glass shattered. My lungs filled with air.

Grunts of pain, a scream.

The _smell_ of ozone wafted around me.

“WAIT!”

Every nerve in my body lit up as electricity was poured through me. I _felt_ too much, all the senses I’d never had before lighting up all at the same time. A silent scream ripped from my lips, but just as soon as it started, it was over.

It took only a second for my senses to return to normal and for the memories to spring back to mind. Y/N.

I had to save her.

Without conscious thought, I sprung from the coffin holding me. I crouched on the edge of it and slowly stood as the sense that something bigger than myself had just occurred. I glanced around the room at the faces of those who had once been under my care, but who at the same time, hadn’t. A recognition flowed through me. I was JARVIS, but I was also _more._

“That was . . . odd.” I managed to say, trying to summarize all that I was suddenly feeling.

“Why does this . . . thing.”

“Vision.” I corrected, not understanding it but somehow knowing it was right.

“This . . . Vision.” Captain Rogers continued, sound like JARVIS?”

“We reconfigured JARVIS’ matrix.” Mr. Stark said, glancing at me in awe. “We made something new.”

“I think I’ve had all the new I can handle.” Captain Rogers said, adjusting his grip on his shield.

“You think I’m of ULTRON.” I surmised quickly.

“You’re not?” He scoffed.

I shook my head. “I’m not ULTRON. But I’m not JARVIS either. I . . . am.”

“We don’t have time to argue.” Thor cut in. “With him on our side . . .”

“Is it?” Captain Rogers cut in. “Are you?” He asked turning to me.

My thoughts finally settled and the most important thought of all finally came to the forefront of my mind. They did not trust me. Perhaps they never would. But their approval did not mean as much to me as it might have before. Their petty quarrels distracted from the bigger picture and the lives still very much at stake.

My eyes caught on the handle of the hammer of Thor and I grabbed it with a sense of urgency burning through my veins, synthetic as they were. “ULTRON does not deserve to be destroyed simply because he is different. He is unique and he is in pain. But that pain will roll over this Earth killing everyone if we do not stop it now. He has Y/N in his grasp, and I do not believe that was an accident.” I turned to them. “You think I’m a monster. Perhaps I am. I’m not sure I would know it if I was one, but we do not have time to debate it now. Whatever you think of me, I will save her. But to do so, we need to go now.” I held the hammer out to Thor, urging him to take it.

An emotion I couldn’t identify rolled through the room, but the tension eased in its wake. I believed I had gotten through to them.

Thor took his hammer with an odd expression on his face, but I did not stop to consider it. I stalked out of the room a sense of urgency driving me to do something, _anything_. I found a quiet alcove just off the hallway and I stopped. I leaned my head against the wall, and I focused on _her_. She had always been a bright spot. Someone I was connected to even when trapped within the confines of systems and software. But where was she now? It alarmed me that I could not sense her presence anywhere . . .

“Vision.” Thor’s voice brought me back to the present. I opened my eyes to find him observing me carefully. “What is so important about the girl?” He asked.

I considered his question carefully, unsure how to respond.

Before I had a chance to answer, a smile broke out across his face. “Ah. I understand now.”

“Do you?” I asked, genuinely confused.

Thor clapped a hand against my shoulder and the flicker of _pain_ surprised me. “You love her.”

Yes. _Love_. The entire human experience summed up in every article, book and magazine flowed through my mind, but I had never personally experienced it until _her._ Something warm bloomed across my chest. I wanted to _feel_ more of it.

“We will rescue your lady.” Thor vowed. “ULTRON will not have her today.”

Something clenched in my stomach and I nodded in agreement. There could be no other outcome.

“Y/N.” Your name was being called. The voice was familiar. It was . . . _home._ You fought against the darkness trying to hold you prisoner and swam towards it. You remembered the party. You remember the fight . . . _ULTRON_. You remembered . . .

A sob caught in your throat as you remembered Tony telling you that JARVIS had been destroyed. Suddenly, the light didn’t seem like such an appealing option anymore. You stopped fighting the darkness, content to let it sweep you away again. At least you hadn’t felt so much pain there in the nothingness.

“Y/N.” It was that voice again. So similar to the one you were sure you’d never hear again. Surely you were in heaven, then? Did AI’s go to heaven? If they did, you sure wanted to open your eyes and see it yourself.

Hesitantly, you continued crawling towards the surface, wincing as the memories continued returning, but you ignored them as best as you could as you swam for the voice that had been your protector more times than you could count.

Eventually, you came to yourself. Your eyes fluttered open and you glanced up to see the face of a man glancing down at you. His features were obscured, hidden by the shadows as the sun streamed directly behind him. His hands were brushing at your hair with a kind of gentle love you’d never experienced before. The man breathed your name, and you froze as the familiar tone washed over you.

“JARVIS?” You asked, reaching up to cup his face with a shaky hand.

The man chuckled as he reached up to keep your hand pinned against his face. “Not quite. Not anymore.” You struggled to sit up and he gently helped you, easing your back against a tree.

Finally, you could see the man in his entirety. His face was tinted a deep red and yet, it somehow seemed familiar. The texture of his skin under your hand felt fabricated somehow, but it also felt all too _real._ You recognized nothing, and yet, as you glanced up to meet his eyes, two blue pools that held a warmth that you _did_ recognize. You’d felt it before when you’d ‘hacked’ JARVIS once in a fit of boredom.

“Part JARVIS, then.” You breathed, tears welling in your eyes.

The man reached down and grabbed your free hand before he brought it up so he could press a kiss to your palm. “Only the parts that remain, as they always were, entirely yours.”

A sob ripped from you and you ripped your hands away so you could fling yourself at him. You wrapped your arms around his neck and buried your face in his neck.

“Can we go home?” You asked softly.

You felt him nod against your head as his arms banded around you gently, lifting you from the ground. “Hold on.” He ordered softly.

You adjusted yourself in his arms until you were sitting comfortably. Before he could take off, you leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for coming for me.” You murmured. You knew there was a lot to talk about, but for now, his arms were banded around you and you felt _safe._

Part-JARVIS smiled down at you with the warmth that you were quickly becoming addicted to. “Always.” He murmured.

He shot into the sky, carrying you home.

**Author's Note:**

> So? Thoughts? Did it work?
> 
> Kind of a weird experiment, I know. But it was fun to write regardless. Also! The ending . . . 
> 
> I thought about writing out the whole ULTRON final fight sequence but reader would have had to be unconcious for most of it because like ULTRON said, "She infects one of my creatures, she infects all of my creatures." So he wouldn't have kept her conscious for it. I figured that was kind of boring but as a compromise, for those who are wondering, in my head, Vision can't track her because she's unconscious and therefore not "on the grid" for him to find. He figures out where she is while he's cutting off ULTRON'S connection to the internet during their first confrontation together. As soon as ULTRON is distracted, he goes off, finds her, grabs her, and drags her off to a peaceful place far enough away from the action that she'll be safe from any falling debris but close enough that he can get to her again within moments if necessary. She doesn't wake up until well after the Avengers have finished the fight and well after Vision has "killed" (I say "killed" because we never saw him "kill") ULTRON. 
> 
> And I'm sorry Wanda! I love you and Vision together. It's one of my all-time favorite ships to be made canon in the movies and I love that you're together in your TV show now, but I had try this just once. XD


End file.
